Running newbie - couch-to-5k, Haaaaaard!!

Lpeterson189

OP here! Wow thanks to EVERYONE for all the tips! Got my C25K week 4 day 3 tomorrow morning, I'll sloooooooow it down on my run intervals, see how that goes.

Thanks for all the support! Glad to know its not just me that has a hard time getting into the running gig. ^_^

mtcastillo86

Started Day 1 today. I can honestly say that seemed harder than doing 20k on my bike! However, I am going to stick to it.

Running is definitely harder. I can't speak for all sports, but I have biked, race walked, put in hours on an elliptical trainer, and now I row on a rowing machine. Running is harder, hands-down. I think it's the breathing. It takes a while to find a comfortable breathing rhythm. Once you acquire it, though, you realize that you can run for a lot longer than you ever thought before.

Lpeterson189

I started walking up hills and found that made running on flat ground SOOOO much easier! Try it. Good luck, I hope it gets easier for you!

Hills are my enemy! :laugh: Thank goodness I live in Illinois where it's flat.

Omg haha...I live in pretty much the flattest area of Michigan...and the only other place I'd ever really run was on the beach in Florida...so supppper flat. My first 10K I signed up for without realizing there was a freaking ELEVATION MAP! I flipped haha...It was hill city! I think I cried a little...then learned to kind of like hills....even if I didn't really run most of them lol!

I live 50miles west of Philadelphia....land of the large rolling hills -_-. There are _no_ flat surfaces out where I live.

courtneymal17

I started walking up hills and found that made running on flat ground SOOOO much easier! Try it. Good luck, I hope it gets easier for you!

Hills are my enemy! :laugh: Thank goodness I live in Illinois where it's flat.

Omg haha...I live in pretty much the flattest area of Michigan...and the only other place I'd ever really run was on the beach in Florida...so supppper flat. My first 10K I signed up for without realizing there was a freaking ELEVATION MAP! I flipped haha...It was hill city! I think I cried a little...then learned to kind of like hills....even if I didn't really run most of them lol!

I live 50miles west of Philadelphia....land of the large rolling hills -_-. There are _no_ flat surfaces out where I live.

well that's the kicker...the race was like 30 mins from my house! I was like...whoa where did this come from!! lol! I actualy wished I lived closer to some hills so I could put them into my workouts a little more.

ken_hogan

You shouldn't be gasping your *kitten* off...run at a pace that you could still carry on a normal converstation while taking deep breaths at times...

emirror

I started trying to run several months ago. I run on a treadmill.

After many weeks of run for 1 minute, rest, run for 2 minutes, rest, almost die at 2.5 minutes, gasp, gasp, gasp... I reached out to my friend who is a runner. She took me on an outdoor run with her, and corrected several mistakes I was making:

Mistake 1 - breathing through my mouth. Closing my mouth and breathing through my nose took away the awful chest pain that made me feel like I was having a heart attack and was causing me to gasp for breath.

Mistake 2 - panting/breathing too fast. Regulating my breaths to a 4-3or4 pattern is perfect for me. I breathe in for 4 steps, breathe out for 3 or 4 steps. Keeping my mouth closed.

Mistake 3 - setting my goal in time. For many people, setting time goals works great. For me, not so much. Once I started thinking in terms of "run for a half mile without stopping", I progressed rapidly. Ok I can do that now. So now run for a mile without stopping. Ok, I can do that now. Now add another half mile until that becomes kind of easy... now another.

Mistake 4 - running too fast. This coincided with mistake 3. Because I was going for time, I was going all-out. It was way too fast. I took myself down to 4.4 on the treadmill and went from there. Once I got to 2 miles at 4.4 without stopping, I bumped up my speed to 5.0 (12 minute mile) for 2 miles (this is where I am now).

Good luck!

kathyvstephan

a running bump

maegmez

I concede, I do agree that what works for some doesn't work for all. Maybe I see it differently because I didn't use this program. I just ran at intervals to build myself up. None of its easy.

There is nothing wrong with what you did and it certainly worked for you and allowed you to attain your goals. You will gain fitness by running hard repeats (the intervals are actually the rest/recover periods between the repeats), just not the same type and quality of aerobic fitness that is required to run at your best for any race longer than 400 meters. I'm certain that your tremendous weight loss contributed to your perception of your fitness as well.

Kudos to you and best wishes.

Thank you and all the best to you as well! I never thought I would call myself a runner and its still odd to say that but I love running! I started it to burn calories, always checking to see how many calories. Now, it's how fast am I. I just ran my first 10k Race For Life but according to my watch, it was only 9k but finished it in 48 mins with lots of hills and high temps! My best time for 10k (unofficial) is 56mins. There is part of me that is thinking about a half marathon but want to run a few more 10k's next year first. Still have about 30 pounds to goal.

X

larsensue

I started trying to run several months ago. I run on a treadmill.

After many weeks of run for 1 minute, rest, run for 2 minutes, rest, almost die at 2.5 minutes, gasp, gasp, gasp... I reached out to my friend who is a runner. She took me on an outdoor run with her, and corrected several mistakes I was making:

Mistake 1 - breathing through my mouth. Closing my mouth and breathing through my nose took away the awful chest pain that made me feel like I was having a heart attack and was causing me to gasp for breath.

Mistake 2 - panting/breathing too fast. Regulating my breaths to a 4-3or4 pattern is perfect for me. I breathe in for 4 steps, breathe out for 3 or 4 steps. Keeping my mouth closed.

Mistake 3 - setting my goal in time. For many people, setting time goals works great. For me, not so much. Once I started thinking in terms of "run for a half mile without stopping", I progressed rapidly. Ok I can do that now. So now run for a mile without stopping. Ok, I can do that now. Now add another half mile until that becomes kind of easy... now another.

Mistake 4 - running too fast. This coincided with mistake 3. Because I was going for time, I was going all-out. It was way too fast. I took myself down to 4.4 on the treadmill and went from there. Once I got to 2 miles at 4.4 without stopping, I bumped up my speed to 5.0 (12 minute mile) for 2 miles (this is where I am now).

Good luck!

good advice!! will keep this in mind along with alot of the other posts I saw here!

beautsarah

bump!!!

Akras211

I do have a question of my own tho..I've been jogging at a Reeeeally slow pace (15min mile) and I still have a hard time breathing, I wouldn't be able to keep up a conversation if I tried. I feel if I go any slower I'd just be power walking. I'm sure it has to do with my horrible past of smoking a pack of cigarettes a day (i switched to e-cigs a little over a year ago, but I'm not sure if that's any better when it comes to running), and the fact that I have asthma. But my question is two-fold, how can I increase my stamina, and if there are any joggers out there with asthma, how do you maintain a good breathing pattern to prevent an attack? I've tried 2-2, 3-2, 3-3..nothing seems to help. -__-

I have exercise induced asthma and started running in March or April. It BLOWS. I also have giant boobs and crazy tight hip flexors, so running does not agree with my body. But I promised my best friend I would run with her, so run I do. Here are my tips, thoughts, and observations:

1. I have to measure progress differently than other people. Forget time, forget distance, forget pace. I pay attention to things like how long it takes my lungs to feel good again after a run, (used to take 3-6 days, now takes about 5 minutes), and how long I can talk through a run (I used to not be able to talk at all, now I can talk for at least 15 minutes, and force out some grunts for another 5 minutes after that). That kind of progress is crazy important, so don't discount it.
2. Experiment and figure out what works. In the beginning, I used my inhaler as a prophylactic. I hated the jitters so I weaned off that. Some people have great success using an inhaler before running, some use it during, some use it after, some do a combination, some don't use it all. Figure out what works for you, then be open to changing the plan when your body changes.
3. You may need to rearrange your other workouts. My Tuesday morning runs were always the hardest. Monday nights I would strength train lower body, then do an hour of spin. Tuesday nights I would strength train upper body, then an hour of spin. I switched my upper and lower so I no longer train lower the night before a run. That small, seemingly inconsequential change made a huge difference in my Tuesday morning run.
4. You can't outrun asthma. It is not a weakness to be trained away; it is a medical condition. It will almost certainly improve with greater conditioning, (see number 1), but can't just decide to run like you don't have asthma. Trust me, I've tried. No bueno.
5. I am a slow runner and I've been stuck averaging about 10:20-10:30/mile on my three mile runs for about two months. It's a big improvement from where I started, but still not where I want to be. But as you know, working on speed with asthma feels like death. Then I read an article at active.com last week, (I can't remember the title or I'd provide the link), and there was a bit that really stuck with me: your body doesn't know pace, your body knows effort. I.e., focus on putting in a certain amount of effort, rather than hitting a time or a pace or a distance. You know what happened when I took that advice? Tuesday I ran a 10:17 mile, then a 8:58, then an 8:55. This morning I ran a 9:15 then a 10:17. I stopped worrying about pace, started focusing on effort, and absolutely CRUSHED my averages. The two sub-9s are the fastest miles I've ever run in my life. I'm still giddy.
6. Breathing: ignore what everyone says and figure out what works for you. I take two short, deep, breaths that match my steps, then one long exhale for two steps. Don't forget about the exhales - if you don't get the old air out, there's no room for new air. Breathing in without fully exhaling is hard. Breathing in while your lungs are spasming is hard. Put the two together and you are going to get into trouble very quickly. The exhale is just as important as the inhale.
7. As for building stamina - same as anything else. Do the best you can do, then do a little more. That might only be another 10 seconds or 3 steps or just to the next mailbox. It doesn't matter how small the improvement is, it counts. The little ones add up.
8. Walking breaks are your friend. I'm young and strong. I strength train solo twice a week, spin twice a week, do yoga once a week, and spend an hour with a trainer doing strength work with some high intensity cardio intervals every week. My endurance for all those things is excellent. But the running...not so much. Roughly four months in, I still need a walk break after mile 2. C25K in eight weeks is just not a reasonable goal for me. Walking is ok.
9. Rest. Rest. Rest. Oh, and rest. And when I say "rest," I mean both off days and sleep. I run three days a week and can't fathom adding another day. I also try my darndest to get at least 7 hours of sleep the night before a run. I can sleep walk my way through all of my other workouts, but for me, the mental component of running is huge and I really need to be clear-headed when I start.
10. Find a buddy. Seriously, it's the single most important thing I've done. There is absolutely no way I would have made it past the second run if I wasn't doing this with my bestest friend in the whole wide world. It all started because she wanted me to do a 5k and promised we could run-walk. Naturally, I decided I don't want to walk, so I have until September to get the walk out. Last week she started talking about a 10k. Oy...

So there are my musings. Hopefully something in there is helpful to you. The most important thing is to just keep chugging along and doing your best.

mmg0327

Bump for all the great running tips!

Lpeterson189

OP here! Did my Week 4, Day 3 of C25K this morning and I took the advice that was given here about _slowing down_. It changed by overall pace to a 13.9 min/mile, completed the intervals doing 1.61 miles in 21:30. But the good thing is - I didn't have to switch to walking in any of my run intervals!!!! :bigsmile: First time ever was able to run BOTH 5min run intervals without changing to walking!!!

I guess to build up my endurance the trick is to slow it down - which seems a bit backward when thought about, but hey if that is what works, I'll do it!

Thanks everyone!

paymaas

There is no reason you can't do a run, or a week, more than once. Sticking with it is the important thing. Doing week 3 three times before moving to week 4 is OK.

mi2ak2co

Great tips and a lol, posts helped me realize that there is a back arrow to repeat days, yay!

blt0087

I do have a question of my own tho..I've been jogging at a Reeeeally slow pace (15min mile) and I still have a hard time breathing, I wouldn't be able to keep up a conversation if I tried. I feel if I go any slower I'd just be power walking. I'm sure it has to do with my horrible past of smoking a pack of cigarettes a day (i switched to e-cigs a little over a year ago, but I'm not sure if that's any better when it comes to running), and the fact that I have asthma. But my question is two-fold, how can I increase my stamina, and if there are any joggers out there with asthma, how do you maintain a good breathing pattern to prevent an attack? I've tried 2-2, 3-2, 3-3..nothing seems to help. -__-

I have exercise induced asthma and started running in March or April. It BLOWS. I also have giant boobs and crazy tight hip flexors, so running does not agree with my body. But I promised my best friend I would run with her, so run I do. Here are my tips, thoughts, and observations:

1. I have to measure progress differently than other people. Forget time, forget distance, forget pace. I pay attention to things like how long it takes my lungs to feel good again after a run, (used to take 3-6 days, now takes about 5 minutes), and how long I can talk through a run (I used to not be able to talk at all, now I can talk for at least 15 minutes, and force out some grunts for another 5 minutes after that). That kind of progress is crazy important, so don't discount it.
2. Experiment and figure out what works. In the beginning, I used my inhaler as a prophylactic. I hated the jitters so I weaned off that. Some people have great success using an inhaler before running, some use it during, some use it after, some do a combination, some don't use it all. Figure out what works for you, then be open to changing the plan when your body changes.
3. You may need to rearrange your other workouts. My Tuesday morning runs were always the hardest. Monday nights I would strength train lower body, then do an hour of spin. Tuesday nights I would strength train upper body, then an hour of spin. I switched my upper and lower so I no longer train lower the night before a run. That small, seemingly inconsequential change made a huge difference in my Tuesday morning run.
4. You can't outrun asthma. It is not a weakness to be trained away; it is a medical condition. It will almost certainly improve with greater conditioning, (see number 1), but can't just decide to run like you don't have asthma. Trust me, I've tried. No bueno.
5. I am a slow runner and I've been stuck averaging about 10:20-10:30/mile on my three mile runs for about two months. It's a big improvement from where I started, but still not where I want to be. But as you know, working on speed with asthma feels like death. Then I read an article at active.com last week, (I can't remember the title or I'd provide the link), and there was a bit that really stuck with me: your body doesn't know pace, your body knows effort. I.e., focus on putting in a certain amount of effort, rather than hitting a time or a pace or a distance. You know what happened when I took that advice? Tuesday I ran a 10:17 mile, then a 8:58, then an 8:55. This morning I ran a 9:15 then a 10:17. I stopped worrying about pace, started focusing on effort, and absolutely CRUSHED my averages. The two sub-9s are the fastest miles I've ever run in my life. I'm still giddy.
6. Breathing: ignore what everyone says and figure out what works for you. I take two short, deep, breaths that match my steps, then one long exhale for two steps. Don't forget about the exhales - if you don't get the old air out, there's no room for new air. Breathing in without fully exhaling is hard. Breathing in while your lungs are spasming is hard. Put the two together and you are going to get into trouble very quickly. The exhale is just as important as the inhale.
7. As for building stamina - same as anything else. Do the best you can do, then do a little more. That might only be another 10 seconds or 3 steps or just to the next mailbox. It doesn't matter how small the improvement is, it counts. The little ones add up.
8. Walking breaks are your friend. I'm young and strong. I strength train solo twice a week, spin twice a week, do yoga once a week, and spend an hour with a trainer doing strength work with some high intensity cardio intervals every week. My endurance for all those things is excellent. But the running...not so much. Roughly four months in, I still need a walk break after mile 2. C25K in eight weeks is just not a reasonable goal for me. Walking is ok.
9. Rest. Rest. Rest. Oh, and rest. And when I say "rest," I mean both off days and sleep. I run three days a week and can't fathom adding another day. I also try my darndest to get at least 7 hours of sleep the night before a run. I can sleep walk my way through all of my other workouts, but for me, the mental component of running is huge and I really need to be clear-headed when I start.
10. Find a buddy. Seriously, it's the single most important thing I've done. There is absolutely no way I would have made it past the second run if I wasn't doing this with my bestest friend in the whole wide world. It all started because she wanted me to do a 5k and promised we could run-walk. Naturally, I decided I don't want to walk, so I have until September to get the walk out. Last week she started talking about a 10k. Oy...

So there are my musings. Hopefully something in there is helpful to you. The most important thing is to just keep chugging along and doing your best.

Thanks for the tips! You've definitely given me some hope lol, I was afraid I'd never make it past the second week. I slept in too late today and now its too hot for a morning run, so I'm planning on going out tonight once it cools off a bit. I really WANT to be a runner, I just don't want to kill myself in the process, but this is some really great information and im actually looking forward to going out tonight.

RachelHoffman0709

Slow down the run sections to the point that you aren't gasping. I mean slow down a lot, then slow down some more. If it's a shuffle, that's fine. Slow down.

^^this!

conniemaxwell5

Definitely slow down. You should be able to talk with little difficulty.

I started C25K in February and in week 3 I pulled a muscle. It took about 8 weeks to get back to the point I could run again (continued doing the program on the elliptical with faster / slower intervals just to get my cardio and endurance up), then started it again the first part of April and did each week twice. Week 4 and 5 were the hardest. TODAY I ran 5K for the very first time!!!! I still run at a 12 min mile pace (5mph) but my heart rate is right where it needs to be from a cardio standpoint and it feels awesome to say I've done it!

Keep going. Repeat weeks if you have to. You can do this!

BTW, I'm 50 and hadn't run since middle school.

fooninie

If you have no health reasons that force you to slow down, DON'T! It's just a short time and that running burst is what is conditioning your heart to be able to run more. I never did this program but would just run sprints in short bursts, very short and not often but would run my behind off. Started that on Jan/feb and now run a 10k in 56 mins.

A heart rate monitor is great if you love running. As you condition your heart, your heart rate won't go as high, that's when you know it's time to push yourself to run faster and the cycle starts again!

I love running!

I've run several 1/2 marathons and run an average of 20-25k per week and I agree with this. Short bursts are not only good for conditioning, they are great at teaching our muscles to run through the lactic acid build up and help the body run better under stress.

Super interesting article in Runner's World on the usefulness of "tempo" runs (bursts of speed mixed with slower paces)
http://www.runnersworld.com/running-tips/lactic-acid-really-such-bad-thing?page=single

I'm a diehard runner...have been for over 5 years now. It's hard. It's rewarding. Keep up the great progress!!!

1princesswarrior

I'm at the end of week 2 of C25K, this information has been great!

I run with my youngest dog, I have to talk to her, no yell at her often. Anyway I distance ride horses, jump horses, ride the posting trot for 30 minutes on horses non-stop, all hard work ... but absolutely nowhere near as difficult at running. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks I can walk faster than I'm running. All that aside I always feel amazing when I'm done mentally, physically I'm tired but not exhausted.

During my run yesterday I had to significantly slow down because I could feel the heat off the asphalt on the path. I also have caught myself many times not breathing so I will definitely start counting as that is new information.